Morning light pierced through the tarnished windows of the Dumas International headquarters. Once a symbol of influence, the building now stood as a sleeping giant. Marc remained still before the cracked glass façade, a strange feeling gripping his chest. He was no longer Marc Delorme, the penniless consultant; he was not yet Marcus Dumas, the respected heir. He floated between the two, in a role he had to learn to master—or earn.
The air smelled of cold metal and forgotten paperwork.
The entrance hall was empty, silent, almost reverent. The reception screens still displayed the company logo, accompanied by an ironic slogan: "The future in capable hands."
Marc ran his hand over the reception desk, coated in a thin layer of dust. No employees. No sound. Only the echo of his footsteps on the marble testified to his presence.
A faint beep resonated in his mind.
> [SYSTEM ACTIVE]
Suggested mission: Inspect the headquarters — Retrieve hidden accounting data.
Potential reward: +20 XP / Unlock secondary clue.
Marc gritted his teeth. "Even here, you want to guide me, huh?" he muttered to himself.
He scanned the area, noting the disabled cameras, and made his way to the upper floors. The president's office was on the tenth floor—an area untouched since the group's collapse.
The elevator refused to activate. A partial internal network shutdown. He took the stairs, counting each step, each breath.
At the tenth floor, he pushed the door open sharply. The floor creaked. The walls bore marks of removed paintings, the furniture had been cleared. Only a large mahogany desk, a toppled chair, and a powered-off computer remained.
Marc approached slowly.
The desk appeared intact, but his ability to sense material lies tingled. He began searching. Drawers. False bottoms. Side compartments. Nothing.
Then, a detail caught his eye: a screw under the desk, slightly different from the others. He bent down, pulled it, and a small panel opened.
Behind it, an external hard drive secured by a cable.
He allowed himself a smile.
"Keeping your secrets well, Marcus."
Before he could disconnect it, a voice called from behind.
"You are not authorized to be here."
Marc straightened in an instant. A woman stood at the entrance. Black jacket, hair up, piercing gaze. He recognized her immediately: Lucie Beaumont, the in-house lawyer for the Dumas group before the bankruptcy.
"And you?" he asked calmly. "Still guarding the ruins?"
She crossed her arms.
"I received a security alert. You entered without authorization, Mr… Dumas?"
Her tone was deliberately hesitant, almost provocative.
Marc held her gaze.
"You know who I am. And you also know no one else will come here."
She eyed the hard drive in his hand.
"This is confidential. You shouldn't touch it."
He smiled, unflinching.
"Yet it's the only thing that could prove this company wasn't destroyed by chance."
A heavy silence fell.
Lucie finally stepped forward, slowly, as if to gauge his sincerity.
"You believe there's manipulation?"
"No," he replied coldly. "I know there is. And if you'd seen what I've seen in the internal transfers, you'd already understand."
She frowned.
"You have access to internal transfers?"
"Let's say I have… my own ways."
Another mental beep.
> [SYSTEM: Dialogue option unlocked]
Convince Lucie to help decrypt the data.
Required success: Negotiation Level 1.
Marc took a deep breath, choosing his words with precision.
"You know, Lucie, I read some of your reports. You warned the board before the collapse, but they silenced you. I can fix that. Help me understand what happened—and I guarantee your name will come out on the right side of history."
She stayed silent, studying his face, searching for lies behind the words.
"And if it's a setup?"
"Then I'll be the first to fall," he replied without hesitation.
Lucie sighed.
"Very well. But if I discover you're manipulating the evidence, I'll hand you over to the press myself."
"Deal."
He handed her the hard drive. She took it carefully.
"It needs decrypting. The internal servers are still accessible from the basement, but the main network is locked. We'll have to go through technical access."
Marc raised an eyebrow.
"We?"
"You think I'm going to let you mess up evidence unsupervised?"
He allowed a slight smile.
"You're more stubborn than I thought. Let's go."
---
The building's basement was shrouded in shadows. Flickering neon lights cast greenish reflections on the walls. The smell of dampness mingled with metal.
Lucie guided Marc through a maintenance corridor to a sealed door. She produced a magnetic key.
"Old internal authorization. It normally doesn't work anymore."
She swiped it over the sensor. A click.
"Normally, yes," Marc confirmed with a slight smile.
They entered the server room. Metal towers lined up silently, covered in dust. Marc approached the main panel and plugged in the hard drive. The screen lit up immediately.
> [SYSTEM: File detected – "Operation C-12"]
Restricted access – Password required.
Lucie typed quickly.
"It's multi-level encryption. We'd need a specialized technician to bypass it."
Marc nodded.
"I know one."
> Secondary mission unlocked: "Recruit network specialist — Rafe."
Lucie watched, intrigued.
"You seem well-prepared for someone supposedly stripped of all power."
Marc shut down the system, stored the hard drive.
"Let's just say I learn fast."
Before leaving the room, he cast one last look at the servers.
He didn't yet know if these files held the key to his redemption or the start of a new trap, but he already felt something, somewhere, watching him through this SYSTEM.
---
Outside, the rain began to fall.
Lucie closed her jacket and looked at him with a mixture of caution and curiosity.
"You know, Marcus, most people in your position would have fled the country."
"I'm not most people."
She allowed a smile.
"I guessed as much."
As she walked away, the SYSTEM displayed one final line before his eyes:
> Mission accomplished: "Headquarters Inspection" — +20 XP
Unlocked skill: "Negotiation Level 1"
New contact: Lucie Beaumont (Status: Neutral / Potential Ally)
Marc watched the lawyer's silhouette disappear into the mist. He inhaled deeply.
The dice were cast.
And this time, he intended to rewrite the scenario.